CWIS formparse program for using e-mail forms: Formparse.pl
The formparse program lets the end user fill in a form and mail the values to a specified e-mail account. You have two choices in forms:
A. Secure formparse example: http://www.unl.edu/formparse.secure.example.shtml
B. Basic formparse instructions:
- Create a web page with a form on it. A sample form can be found on the
Form Parse Sample
Page.
<form method="post" action="http://www.unl.edu/cgi-bin/formparse">
<input type="hidden" name="whither" value="YourE-mail@unl.edu">
<input type="hidden" name="whence" value="Your Website Here">
<input type="hidden" name="subjectline" value="Response to Web Page">
<input type="hidden" name="thanks" value="Your submission has been sent. Thank you for participating!" >
- Copy the above 6 lines exactly into the body of your page, changing only
the italized text in the quoted strings following VALUE= :
whither - This is the e-mail address where you send the information.
whence - This is what the mailer requires as the return address. We don't have one, so enter the name of your website.
subjectline - This is the subject line that will appear in the e-mail.
thanks - This is the text that will be printed to the end user's screen when the form has been submitted.
- After these six lines, there are two more, as follows:
<input type="hidden" name="thanksfile" value="/cwis/data/(account name)/thanks.html">
These lines are optional, and are used if you want to send the user to your own html thank-you file after
the form has been submitted. Replace the value of thanksfile with the Unix pathname of your html file.
- One of the buttons on your form must allow the user to submit it. It should
look similar to this:
<input type="submit" value="Press to submit">
(Replace the VALUE with text of your choosing.)
It is also nice to have a Reset button, which allows the user to clear the form to its default values.
<input value="reset" value="Reset">
- Terminate the form with the tag: </form>
The first time you use your form, you will get a message asking if you want to be receiving messages from formparse in your mailbox. This courtesy is in use in case someone decides to set up a form soliciting feedback and then sends the responses to another person. For example, someone might decide to set up a form soliciting feedback on administrative handling of the UNL parking situation and enters the Chancellor's personal e-mail address as the "whither" value.
